Wednesday, August 10

Friend, Like, Link, Follow, Circle, Check In ...

... Post, Tweet, Text .... it's a lot! Social media has gotten very complex and very time consuming, don't you think?

It used to just be email, and that was enough to keep us communicating and connecting. And then along came texting, much to our children's delight. And of course Facebook exploded and got us all friending each other and reconnecting. But now with so many social media outlets, many of us are left a little fatigued. And asking ourselves if we need all of these things? I guess we are starting to question the value of spending so much time on social media.

I know I feel that way about Google+. When I got the invite to join, my first reaction was a sigh. Do I really have the time to find all these people again and build up a network? Sure, I jumped in but I have not found the value yet. Maybe even I've got a bit of social media fatigue now too.

The recent "doings" of Old Spice and the Central Park Peacock are good examples. It seems as though social media participants just never really engaged. Maybe it's because there was nothing really fresh and intriguing there to jump into.

So as I thought this through I realized something. The minute something "good" does get posted or a piece of engaging news does get announced, guess what happens? We are all "in" again. I posted pictures from a party I was at on Monday night and the posts were on fire. We were having fun with it all.

Content is king.

Good, engaging, rich content is the key to avoiding social media fatigue. If the "stuff" is good, then we are going to engage with each other. I'll admit it, I was following the stock market tumble on Twitter this time around because I wanted to hear what was happening from people I respect.

The key for me is to keep the content fresh, and don't try to do everything all at once. Pick one or two outlets that mean the most to your life (personally or professionally), and dive in. Post and tweet and text and do whatever that will give your fans and likes and followers something to look forward to and hopefully they will do the same. Then none of us will get tired of it.

3 comments:

You're on the right path with the idea of concentration. Different social media platforms suggest different types of content. Especially for entrepreneurs, it's not a very viable strategy to try and master all the forms. It's vital to find the intersection of your communication strengths and what/where your audiences' interests are.

For bigger brands, that's where a larger staff or external agencies have to come into play to create broader, fresh social media content which still reflects the nuances of each platform.

I posted this the other day on by thoughts about Google+ and other networks:

Top things that get attention in social. :

Asking open ended questionPictures of foodComplaining about somethingTalking about coffeeViral videoBeing first on resharing breaking news...

...lastly original content.

Obviously content is in the eye of the beholder. I don't have a book or 10+ years built up. I would love to make creating a content a full time job, but other priorities over take that. Starting to get back into creating content with any available free time which is currently being taken up by reading all the books.